Taylor - Cerulean blue: a comedy in two acts

2015 Drew Hayden Taylor All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency). For a copyright licence, visit accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777. Talonbooks 278 East First Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V5T 1A6 www.talonbooks.com First printing: 2015 Interior and cover design by Typesmith Cover illustration by Lester Smolenski Talonbooks acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, and the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit. Rights to produce Cerulean Blue , in whole or in part, in any medium by any group, amateur or professional, are retained by the author. Interested persons are requested to contact Janine Cheeseman, Aurora Artists Agency, 19 Wroxeter Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4K 1J5; tel.: (416) 463-4634; fax: (416) 463-4889; email: aurora.artists@sympatico.ca.

The original music score for Cerulean Blue is also available. Contact the composer at tel.: (416) 795-2536; email: andrewclemensmusic@gmail.com. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Taylor, Drew Hayden, 1962, author Cerulean blue / Drew Hayden Taylor. A play. Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-0-88922-952-5 (PBK.). Title. Title.

PS8589.A885C47 2015 C812.54
C2015-904159-7
C2015-904160-0 To Ms Willie,
who keeps my world
from getting blue... PLAYWRIGHTS NOTE Greetings and welcome. If you are expecting this play to be an exploration of some travesty of society visited upon the Aboriginal people of this country, or perhaps an examination of horrors or atrocities Native people have had to endure due to colonization... you may be a little disappointed. Cerulean Blue , like many of my previous plays, is a little more positive. I like to think of it as a celebration of the Aboriginal sense of humour. Yes, there are some issues thrown in here and there after all, whats life without a few issues but essentially, I have always felt the best medicine for many critical issues has always been a liberal dose of humour.

Thats what this book will attempt to do. But first things first: a little background. This particular play is a bit of a departure for me. I and my work are known for dealing primarily with the Aboriginal community. And while a good chunk of this play takes place in a Native community, the vast majority of the central characters in this play are... colour challenged? Pigment denied? People of pallor? You get the picture. colour challenged? Pigment denied? People of pallor? You get the picture.

In the spring of 2013, I was writer-in-residence in the Faculty of Arts at Ryerson University. In the nearby Ryerson Theatre School (which ironically are part of the Faculty of Communication and Design), there are two fabulous women. One is Peggy Shannon, chair of the theatre school, and the other is Cynthia Ashperger, the director of the actors program, whom Id had the opportunity to work with several times previously. Be that as it may, a number of interesting things happened during my residency and, just after my term ended, Peggy and Cynthia asked me to write a new play for the graduating class of RTS. I was excited but found the invitation a little daunting. You see, the graduating class consisted of twenty people, each of whom needed a role.

In theatre, thats a lot of people wandering the stage. In Canadian theatre youre lucky if you can get a play with more than four characters produced; six if you are lucky and personally know the artistic director. I had never written a story with that many characters. The result is that some of the roles in Cerulean Blue are big and others are small, with barely a few lines; yet hopefully all are memorable and interesting. Of course, depending on the director and staging decisions, it is feasible the play could be produced with maybe fourteen or fifteen actors, doubling up some of the roles. Another concern was that none of the actors in that years acting program were Native.

But whats a challenge without a little difficulty? Thus was born Cerulean Blue , the story of a blues band caught behind the lines at a Native protest. And let me say this upfront, seldom have I had so much fun working on such a project. The enthusiasm, the joy, and the dedication those students (and everybody involved) put into their effort, humbled me. And made me feel old. In this play theres music, an all-out brawl, some romance, laughs, and lots of wacky characters. I hope youll have as much fun with this play as I did.

Thanks to the amazing Andrew Clemens for his fabulous music; he made my lyrics actually sound passable. Special thanks also to Cynthia, Peggy, and the amazing Ruth Madoc-Jones, who helmed the madness I helped create. Special thanks to my editor, Ann-Marie Metten, and publisher, Kevin Williams, at Talonbooks, who somehow manage to keep me sounding coherent and somewhat reputable as a playwright.
Drew Hayden Taylor PRODUCTION HISTORY Cerulean Blue was commissioned for the Ryerson Theatre School and first performed at Abrams Studio Theatre in Toronto from February 5 to 12, 2014, with the following cast and crew:
RUSSELL : Drew OHara CASEY : Taylor Hammond ASHLEY : Mani Eusis ANDY : Jake Vanderham JOANNE : Zenna Davis-Jones PAULINE : Vasilisa Atanakovic BILLY : Owen Stahn JENNIFER : Molly Reisman ANGELA : Victoria Houser HELENA : Caitlin Graham OFFICER DELAIRE : Isaac Powrie BUCK : Eddie Gheorghe SADIE : Dion Karas ARTHUR : Mena Massoud LENORE : Emily Nixon RUBY : Jade OKeeffe OTTER : Maaor Ziv POCO : Zach Parkhurst DAVE : Andrew Pimento EMCEE : Kaleigh Gorka
Directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones Musical direction by Andrew Clemens Sound design by Gordon Walker Set design by Holly Meyer-Dymny Lighting design by Andrew Morris Costume design by Sidney Toole Production management by Isabella Cesario Stage management by Seren Lannon CAST OF CHARACTERS RUSSELL : Lead singer in the band CASEY : Lead guitarist ASHLEY : Keyboardist (Caseys wife) ANDY : Drummer JOANNE : Bass player PAULINE : Russells sister BILLY : Joannes replacement and Paulines boyfriend JENNIFER : New keyboardist ANGELA : Band hopeful HELENA : Ashleys mother OFFICER DELAIRE : Police officer listening to the story BUCK : Native bus driver SADIE : Billys old girlfriend ARTHUR : Sadies new boyfriend LENORE : Festival organizer RUBY : Festival organizer who is completely silent OTTER : Rubys translator POCO : Barricade security DAVE : Barricade security EMCEE : Master of ceremonies at the Peterborough Blues Festival LOCATION Various locations in Toronto. A bus. And a First Nations campground in north-central Ontario.

TIME Theres no time like the present. ACT ONE SCENE ONE A police station. OFFICER DELAIRE sits at his desk, listening to BILLY and RUSSELL , who are seated across from him. OFFICER DELAIRE seems weary. BILLY and RUSSELL seem nervous and look a bit roughed up. OFFICER DELAIRE Okay let me hear it one more time.

RUSSELL Again? BILLY Its been twice. OFFICER DELAIRE Humour me. Threes the charm. BILLY Do you have anything to eat? Weve been here like... four or five hours. I need to be fed and watered every three hours or so.

Its a Native thing. ( pause ) Seriously. RUSSELL Its true. Or he gets cranky. BILLY I do. Really.

OFFICER DELAIRE Well I can get cranky too. And I have a Taser. A gun. And a pair of rubber gloves. So now tell me what happened again. RUSSELL Again.

Well again, my name is Russell Aymes... hi... and this guy here is Billy Burroughs, and were in a band. BILLY Not the local Native kind of band. Hes talking about a musical band. Actually, Im a member of both but...